In which I learn how to be a Subpostmistress

I started my career in mail order, back in the days when few people had credit cards, the cheque was always in the post, and mail order companies had 28 days in which to deliver. So yesterday's 'Day 1' of trading was filled with a degree of trepidation - was I going to be able to pack and dispatch everything myself to a single day deadline?

The scary part for me was actually not the packing bit (though I did have to concentrate quite hard to get all the right bits of paper AND the right size product), but Royal Mail. I'm not great at following processes, let alone the delights of multiple tear-offs of barcoded stickers and docket books of carbon copy forms, so it was time to nail my hands to the desk till I worked it out. Eventually jubilant, I scampered off like Piglet to the Post Office with all my parcels. So forgive my observation that it seemed to me that the dude at the Post Office could do with a greater sense of urgency....I guess if you work at the Post Office, people posting stuff is not exactly a noteworthy event. For me, it was epic.